First, look a this URL. You may think it is not associated with what is going on here but it is HIGHLY APROPOS. http://preview.tinyurl.com/2bv5pwc We need some standardization with various version of Linux and starting with making Vim behave the same on all of the Linux distributions is just a first step. Here are some of the things that have happened to me: ONE: ==== I create what is called a PAC filter whose primary function is to block stuff in the following order: 1. Trackers / spies 2. WebBugs 3. Malware 4. Ads You will notice that there are some similarities with it and AdBlock Plus. But there are significant differences. The first three are almost a three way tie. The order was determined to deal with what happens when I have collisions (trackers win out over malware) and to handle what happens when I run out of time. I made the files with a ".txt" extension for Windows and dropped the extension for Unix / Linux. I am editing no less than four files at the same time, two in English and two in French. I have ALWAYS used vim to do this on Linux for what I assume is an obvious reason - I am handling Windows malware so doing it from Linux or OpenBSD or some other Unix or Unix-like system is the only smart way to do it. But why did I pick a ".txt" extension on Windows? First, it doesn't cause a problem with Chrome, Firefox, IE, Opera, or the Safari browsers. They read the file in and it works. Second, the ".pac" extension proposed by a friend has no known association on Windows and it isn't really standard. Third, the ".txt" extension has a known association - open it with NotePad by default or with another editor of your choice (gvim for me) which is what you want to happen. But aren't people smart enough to do that themselves with something with an extension like ".pac"? Read this: http://SecureMecca.BlogSpot.com/2010/04/deactivate-pac-filter.html As you can see, there are some truly STUPID people out there. I realize they won't have my intricate knowledge of Mirosoft Windows (and there are others where it is even higher), but I wrongly assumed they would be easily able to handle backing away from using the filter as needed. The filter is much stronger than a commercial filter. The downside to that is that you need somebody who knows how to tailor it to fit their own needs. So where does the problem come in vis-a-vis with vim? You will notice that I said I edit the prime files (which contain a lot of PRIVUS rules that are removed). I used to do it on Fedora. They had this aggravating line in their /etc/vimrc file that assumes if the file has a ".txt" extension that it should be wrapped at the 80th character. Needless to say, if my lines which occasionally go over even as much as 90 characters wrapped. I endured it by just typing out the entire line, then tapping ESC, k, then J. I assumed this aggravating behavior was because Bram and the vim team decided it would be best. I finally got so ticked off with it I finally commented out the lines that put things in my way. TWO: ==== In late February / early March of 2010 my machine that had Fedora 3 on it named Gandalf finally died. I tried installing Ubuntu 9.x on a new machine named Sauron that has two SATA disks and found out the hard way Ubuntu could not see the second disk. Before then I tried installing Fedora 10, then 11, and then 12 and failed every time. I finally installed OpenSuse 11.2 on Sauron and began to put togther a second redundant system using Windows XP Pro and after an initial problem with Ubuntu 9.x (it could not handle my new super wide ASUS monitor I had to buy because the Viewsonic CRT I had died) put on Ubuntu 10.04. The first time I started editing these files and other files that I was comparing with vim on OpenSuse, every time I left one buffer and came back to it using either ":rew" or ":n" it had this AWFUL BEHAVIOR of shoving the cursor to the bottom of the window. With the help of Tony Mechelynck we finally pinpointed what it was in the /etc/vimrc file that is doing it. Now it looks like this in my /etc/vimrc file on OpenSuse Linux (Ubuntu has a /etc/vimrc folder with various vimrc, vimrc.local and other files in it.: " Only do this part when compiled with support for autocommands. " if has("autocmd") " When editing a file, always jump to the last known cursor position. " Don't do it when the position is invalid or when inside an event handler " (happens when dropping a file on gvim). " autocmd BufReadPost * " \ if line("'\"") > 0 && line("'\"") <= line("$") | " \ exe "normal g`\"" | " \ endif " " endif " has("autocmd") Goodbye and good riddance on having my cursor shoved to the bottom of the Window on OpenSuse. WHAT IS NEEDED (a common vim standard): ======================================= I am getting very tired of these behaviors that are so different from one vim install to the next one. What I propose is that Bram and the vim reader group standardize it so vim behaves as much as possible the same way across various versions of Linux, OpenBSD, FreeBSD, Sun Solaris and other versions of Unix and Microsoft Windows. What happens when some newbie to Linux comes from Windows with all these different behaviors of vim? If the various distribution channels want these non-standard things, tell them to put them into a skeleton .vimrc file that gets copied into each user's $HOME folder / directory but MOST OF THEM SHOULD BE COMMENTED OUT! I have no need for cross session history saving in vim. I don't have much need of history in anything. I am going to guarantee to you that this remembering will bite you if malware ever comes to Linux. OTOH, it seems to be a de-facto standard stretching all the way back to early vi days. Far be it from me to recommend this personal preferenece of mine be something everybody would want. IOW, keep this history for everybody and have people like me use the "-i NONE" to get rid of it. BUT DO NOT PUT THE "-i NONE" in the /etc/vimrc files. Do you get the idea now? *** STOP *** READING *** HERE *** BROADER SCOPE: ============== This standardization extends way beyond vim. Remember the URL I gave you above? Up until now my advice to Windows users was: 1. Install Firefox, Opera, or Chrome (now that it available on Linux) and use them instead of IE. 2. Install OpenOffice and use it instead of Office. 3. Use some other better normal text editor than NotePad. The three that I have recommended are NotePad++, Vim, and psPad in that order. emacs is another possibility. I have also said that if they intend to use Linux that they should shift to using either vim or emacs: http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/windows/emacs/ The reason I am reluctant to recommend emacs is the same as for Notepad2. They give almost no instructions and no install. You are expected to know you have to create a folder and unzip the zipped file into it. But why oh why didn't Microsoft make it just "Programs"? Every time they add a space or punctuation in a folder or file name it causes problems. "Documants and Settings" should have just been "People". 4. I am very disturbed by the Window controls of Ubuntu 10.04. being moved from the upper right sand of the window to the upper left hand side. It is still causing me problems and I have been working with it for over two months now. What is causing the problem? Every other windowing system has the close (x), shring to bar (_), and maximize / normalize icons on the upper right hand side. Complicating matters even further is Linus Torvalds recommending KDE, others using TWM or VTWM. I don't mind that they do it except for those control icons in Gnome. BUT THERE HAS TO BE SOME SORT OF STANDARDIZATION. We need to start with vim and work out from there but we have to do it fast. Those Windows rootkits that have heretofore been limited to Windows 32-bit now work for Windows 64-bit. Estimates are that 10% of all machines running Microsoft Windows now have a rootkit on them. We need to get those people that are on Windows that want to move to Linux as part of their safer strategy to be able to do it without too much pain. But also remember that Linux is just one layer of the security equation. There is no such thing as a magic bullet when it comes to security. But we no longer have the luxury to do this at our leisure. People losing their entire life savings and this Babel we have on our hands now needs to start going some way like the standardization on having a euro and a European Union. You can still have some differences but some standards have to be formed and QUICKLY. The really bad Windows malware which causes more than just savaged machines (they rob your bank account) is here now. 5. What about those who want to continue useing Microsoft Windows? Let them. The coup de grace for me was when I found somebody using host names that had no way for me to block them with my PAC filter. There were no common patterns, domains, or IP addresses. Less than 3/42 of the AV programs at VirusTotal detected them. If you hit them using one of the AV engines on Windows that did not detect them then you are one dead duck. THINK ABOUT IT FOR A WHILE.